Problem recording 2 tracks at once

E

eternalwinter

New member
Hi there,

I am using an older version of SONAR (Sonar 4 Producer Ed.). and for some reason am having problems recording 2 tracks at once...Whenever I do this, I get a slight, crackly, static kind of noise on the tracks recorded...It does it about every other time I hit Record.

What I am trying to do is record a miked amp guitar track, as well as a DI guitar track simultaneously...I never have the problem unless I have 2 or more tracks recording at once...Would this possibly be a problem with buffer size or bit rate? If so, does anyone know what I can do to solve this problem? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Matt
 
Been a while since I used 4 PE, but that definitely sounds like it could be buffer size issues... Taxing your DAW trying to record two tracks. Are you sure the static is actually being recorded?

Up the buffer size and see if the problem corrects itself... Including on tracks you already have recorded to see if they are actually clean and the static is only occurring on playback. Make small increments until it adjusts itself for what you are trying to accomplish...

What else can you tell us about your DAW? OS? Memory? Internet access? Anti virus?

Has this always been a problem or did it just start happening?

Also, what interface are you recording with? ASIO or WDM?
 
Thanks for the reply...OK, I will try to increase the buffer size and see if that helps...

I hear the crackly sound during recording and playback, so I assume it is on the track too, but I have not tried exporting a recorded track out of Sonar and listening to it that way...I will try that too.

Yes, it has always done this when recording 2 or more tracks...I always only record 1 track at a time (vocals, guitar, etc.), so it isn't a problem, but now I need to fix it.

Here is some additional info about my recording setup...I am using:

Rain Solstice PC with Windows XP and Tons of memory, not connected to internet, no Antivirus - PC is Optimized for recording...My interface is the E-MU 1820E, running in ASIO...I also use a Rode NT1000 Condenser Mic, an ART MPA GOLD Preamp (Modified with NOS Tubes) and a Radial DI Box.

My current settings in SONAR are:

Sampling Rate - 44100
Bit Depth - 24
Buffer Size - 128
Asio Buffer Latency - 10 MS

Note: I have troubleshooted all my equipment in the chain and the problem NOT caused by any of the components...It is something in Sonar that only happens when 2 tracks are recording at once...Everything runs perfect when only recording 1 track.
 
OK, I increased the buffer size and it did seem to help a bit...The static does not happen as often, but it still does occur...My initial buffer size was 128 and I gradually increased it up to about 900 or so...before, it would get staticy about every other take. Now, with the buffer size up a bit, it seems to happen randomly, about every 5 or 6 takes, or sometimes every 8 or 10 takes...

Should I continue increasing the buffer size? Is it normal for it to be this high? What is a good general buffer size that I should try?

Also, do you think changing the "Asio Buffer Latency" would help?

Thanks.
 
As long as latency (delay) does not interfere with your tracking, the highest buffer setting possible is the way to go. Depends on your gear as to how far you can go with it.
 
A couple other options to try... Both do essentially the same thing.
Sonar has a picture cache with pictures of all your previous waveforms, etc. and this folder, when it gets too large, can really affect performance. To correct this:

Find your aud.ini file in your Cakewalk directories. Open the file in Notepad. Delete everything listed beneath the line: PictureDir=C:\Cakewalk Projects\Picture Cache. Save the file and restart SONAR.

or

Just go into the Picture Cache folder an delete some (or all) of the files in there. Sonar will recreate the pictures on the fly so you're not really risking anything... Some folks will just remove files over a year old.

Try either of these and let us know if you see any improvements :)
 
Hi there, It's been a few months since I originally posted this thread...

I thought that I had fixed this problem by increasing the buffers, as you guys had suggested, but it turns out that it actually just made it happen less frequently...

I increased the buffer size as far as I could (2048) and also deleted the Picture Cache folder...I am still having the crackling/stuttering effect when recording more than 1 track at once...

Again, my current settings in Sonar are:

Sampling Rate - 44100
Bit Depth - 24
Buffer Size - 128
Asio Buffer Latency - 10 MS

I did notice that under "Mixing Latency", where it says "Buffers in Playback Que, it is set on 2...but it is grayed out and I can't change it. Don't know if that could have anything to do with this...

Does anyone have any idea what else could possibly be the problem here? It is starting to become very frustrating...Thanks for any input.
 
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